Armenia: Workers at Russian Military Base Protest Unpaid Wages

Workers at Russia's military base in Armenia have gone on strike, claiming they haven't been paid since February.

The protest, on May 3, involved about 100 workers at a Russian company that services the apartments of Russian contract soldiers at the 102nd Military base in Gyumri, Armenia's second city, the Armenian service of RFE/RL reported.

The workers said that they believed that the money for their salaries had arrived from Russia, but that the company they worked for had gone bankrupt and they hadn't been paid for more than two months.

The protest seemed to achieve its aim: the workers met with the commander of the base, Colonel Vladimir Elkanov, who said he hadn't been aware of the issue and would look into it. Although that would seem to suggest that the problem will be resolved without much more drama, Russia still doesn't need any more controversy over its base in Armenia.